Once Upon a Thanksgiving
by Heidi Erickson
Summary: It's Thanksgiving Day, and a reluctant Regina prepares for a big "family dinner" with the Charmings, Emma, Neal, Rumplestiltskin, and Belle, something Henry always has wanted. Will Regina let her tendency for meanness get in the way of forming a bond with her sort-of "family", or will she learn to be thankful for what she has? Rumbelle, Snowing, SwanFire, & a surprise pairing. AU.


_**Once Upon a Thanksgiving**_

**Author's Note: **

**This is my first **_**Once Upon a Time**_** fan fiction! I am sure the OUAT family tree Thanksgiving dinner has been done many times, but I wanted to give my take on it. Some humor, some angst, some fluff…ah, I hope you enjoy it. :-) This is very AU, and maybe OOC, and I really don't like OOC, so I'm sorry if it is.**

**This is going to be a short multi-chapter fan fiction, since the storyline range is only for one day. But each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, and I've left out many "loose ends" that all will be revealed at the end. I like to keep my readers guessing and wondering. I'm evil like that. ;-D**

**The first chapter features Regina and Rumplestiltskin on Thanksgiving day. Regina is home alone, preparing, when Rumple comes by to discuss finding a way to return to the Enchanted Forest, a plan Regina is not happy about.**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own Once Upon a Time or the ABC Channel network. All rights belong to ABC, Eddy Kitsis, and Adam Horowitz. (But you guys are fabulous masterminds, seriously.)**

"Henry!" Regina shouted as she tapped her foot on the first step of her winding staircase. "Henry!" She tried again. _Oh, he'd better not have run off to the Charmings without letting me know—again._ She sighed impatiently and walked up the steps to find her son, last seen doing homework in his room.

Regina didn't particularly agree with Mary Margaret's penchant of assigning her students homework even for the holidays, but if it kept Henry busy and his intellectual growth going, then it was fine with his mother. She just hoped it wasn't too much for him.

To Regina's dismay, when she opened his bedroom door, he wasn't there. Huffing in frustration, she stalked into pick up papers blown to the floor from the open window. Henry's "escape bed sheet rope" hung over the windowsill.

_What did I do to make him run off without letting me know? I already told him I'm all right with it if he goes over to his other family if he tells me first. It's not like before anymore._ Regina thought to herself, perplexed, as she placed the papers back on Henry's desk. To her surprise, a large green Post-It note addressed to her was stuck over an open page of Henry's science textbook.

_Mom, I know you won't like that I left without letting you know. I am somewhere with the Charmings. We have a surprise for you! That's why I can't tell you anything else. I promise we'll be here at 6:00 as planned. Oh, and remember, don't make anything with apples. We aren't ready to trust you with apples yet. Sorry. And please don't make lasagna. We love your lasagna, but it's not for Thanksgiving. Love, Henry_

"Of all the charming idiots…" Regina muttered to herself. Snow and Henry, who knew her best of all the Charmings, should know full well that she hated surprises. Was it a way of the seeking revenge against her for all the things she'd done—only meant to be in an affectionate gesture?

She straightened her spine, went over to the window to pull up the rope and shut the window, and then left the room without a backwards glance. _I just hope I do appreciate this, Henry, or I'll be wrapping up caramel apples as Christmas gifts for everyone._ She thought snidely as she returned downstairs to the kitchen, preparing to conjure the apple pie she'd just baked into a pecan pie. _No one has to know._

After she'd taken care of the apple-turned-pecan pie, Regina checked on the pistachio pudding in the refrigerator, and then started cleaning up the kitchen counters, stained and smeared with food bits. Internally, she began to struggle with the concept that the Charmings were coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. _Be fair, Regina, be fair. No one else in Storybrooke has a house as big as yours. And this is for Henry. He'd wanted it for a while now. Who are you to say no to the family you're trying so hard to reconcile with?_

Granted, Regina didn't deserve their forgiveness, she knew that full well. Half of Storybrooke still despised her. The Charmings, though still wary of her, were truly trying to be civil with her. After all, Regina did say she wanted to change.

And then her mother came to Storybrooke, abducted Archie Hopper, staged his murder, framed Regina for it, and coerced her into attempting to murder Rumplestiltskin and take over everyone's lives again—all for the sake of Henry's relationship with Regina, and hers with her mother's. Then Snow killed her with Rumplestiltskin's help.

Then Regina tried to seek revenge against Snow, and when that failed, she tried to take Henry away back to the Enchanted Forest, but Greg Mendell and Tamara abducted her and nearly killed her—only to be stopped by Snow and Charming, and Regina was rescued and revived.

Then she went on to sacrifice herself to save everyone else—only to be helped by Emma Swan, and all of Storybrooke was saved. But Henry was kidnapped and taken to Neverland. And after many twists and turns, they found him and brought him back here. Peter Pan was brought down, and everything seemed to start going back to normal.

Except for one thing. The past. Once Regina and her companions returned to Storybrooke, everyone expected Regina and Rumplestiltskin to find out a way to return to the Enchanted Forest. Captain Hook left, so there was no use of a good ship that could carry more than two hundred people. There were no more magic beans. No enchanted portals or magic mirrors, unless you counted Sidney Glass. And he was still in the form of a man who still worshipped at Regina's feet. She shuddered at the very fact.

And now Regina and Rumplestiltskin had been very busy over looking for various resources for making a portal to get back home. Now with Baelfire—or Neal Cassidy—back with them, Rumplestiltskin was on board with the Charmings and the rest of Storybrooke to return to the Enchanted Forest. Neal had made peace with his father at last, but there was still a long way to go to a full reconciliation. As such was the case for Regina with Snow, Charming, and Emma.

Regina felt alone in this situation. Unlike the rest of Storybrooke, she did not want to go back "home". What was in store for her there? Most likely exile, again, like the last time. To be honest, she was far away from the young girl who didn't care about magic or riches—the young girl who was in love with a poor stable boy.

Now over a decade later (or three, if one counted the years in Storybrooke), Regina was an Evil Queen who used magic like an addiction to alcohol and took her wealth for granted like King Midas. Emma once said to her, in a subtle form of a compliment, that her only saving grace seemed to be Henry.

Archie had told her the same thing, but also that he was her emotional crutch. When there was no Henry, she was bad. But when there was Henry, she was good. Archie encouraged her to start being good on her own terms, her own accord. And maybe people would start accepting her again.

The descent down to evil was hard at first for Regina, she remembered, but it became easy as she just kept going.

But the ascension to good was even harder. Especially when so few believed in her.

Regina only hoped that once she and Rumplestiltskin found the way home, people would see that as a good act on her part, and maybe, just _maybe_, that'd be one step more towards being in others' good graces.

A chime filled the kitchen, startling Regina right out of her thoughts. Someone was at the door. "Henry," she breathed in relief and rushed to the front door.

To her disappointment, it was just Rumplestiltskin. He smiled almost kindly at her. "Regina. I was beginning to think you wouldn't come to the door."

Regina furrowed her brow at him. "Did you ring the doorbell more than once?"

"Yes," the reformed, not-so-malevolent-anymore imp confirmed, "I rang it three times. Something distracting you, dearie?"

Regina smirked back, not willing to admit to anything. "Oh, you know, just making sure there's enough of a sleeping curse in the apple pie to suit everyone."

Rumple's brow slightly furrowed, as if unsure if he should believe her or not, then he relaxed, his hand brushing down his grey Armani suit. "I'm glad you're in such high spirits this afternoon, Regina. I know I'm early. I decided to see if you had some extra spare time for me to discuss this new concept I've made for the trip back home."

"Oh, great," Regina didn't bother to hide her lack of enthusiasm, knowing Rumple was already aware of her reluctance to return to the Enchanted Home. She stepped aside to let him in. "Where's Belle? I'd assume she was with you, given how she'd been glued to your elbow ever since we came back from Neverland."

"That is a ridiculous exaggeration, my dear," Rumple shot back as he lifted his cane across the doorway and entered the hallway. "She's glued only to my elbow at nighttime—"

"I don't need to hear anymore of this," Regina held up a hand, making a face. She shut the door behind her, crossed her arms, and faced him. "What concept?" She requested, not in the right mood for a friendly conversation. She was no good at friendly conversations since she hadn't any in a long time.

Rumple smiled genuinely, his excitement about getting back home evident on his angular face. "Do you remember the mirror I brought to you to send your mother to other world?"

"Yes." Regina answered. All too well.

"I still have the magic spell that I used to bewitch the mirror. We can cast it on any mirror object that is from the Enchanted Forest. First, we'll have to make it big enough for everyone to enter at once, though. No need for residents going riot crazy about going back home in a line of ones. Oh, and of course…do you have any mirror objects that you've kept with you from the Enchanted Forest?" Rumple explained, waving his hands slightly as he made the picture clear for Regina.

Regina pursued her lips as she mulled it over. _Too bad I can't just stay behind in Storybrooke because Henry will be going as well…I'll need other excuse to stall the plan again._ She feigned a long pause of thought, and then answered, "Sorry. When I brought all of us over from the Enchanted Forest, I didn't consider bringing anything of mine."

Rumple persisted, unconvinced, "But you brought your father's coffin, and your stable boy lover."

Regina shrugged. "To be honest, Rumple, when I was busy conjuring the curse, I didn't think that there would be anything breakable about it—as in, I didn't think of the fact that you would use Emma Swan as a failsafe. I thought we'd be here forever."

"I'm thankful we're not," Rumple retorted with his trademark hostile smirk when he was reminded of something unpleasant. Like the fact that Regina had locked Belle up for 28 years until Emma Swan came along. "Are you sure you don't have anything like it, dearie?"

"I'm sure," Regina shot back with a tight smile. "What about you? I don't think I'm the only one with a hoarding tendency."

Rumple narrowed his gaze, his brown eyes glittering. "I'm impressed with your quick wit today, Regina. And to answer your question, I have yet to search my shop, admittedly. There is a mirror I have, but I'm hoping to present it to Belle as a Christmas gift. It's a very valuable object."

"Ohh," Regina mocked him with a pouty, pitying look. "I guess you're not as invested into going back home as everyone thought. Suit yourself, dear." With that, she turned on her heel and fairly pranced back into her kitchen, feeling much better. Now both she and Rumple were delaying the mission in getting home. With luck, it might be far into next summer by the time they left.

"It's nice to see you're not trying very hard." The enigmatic pawnbroker quipped as he followed after her.

Regina resumed wiping crumbs off the counter and glared at him. "At what?" She scathed.

He smirked meanly and shrugged, putting up an innocent façade. Then he promptly changed the subject. "So, where's Henry's off to? I've not seen my grandson of late."

"At the Charmings." Regina answered, playing along for once. "Where else would he be?" She sighed, taking the dishcloth and shaking the bits down the sink. "He left a post-it in his room for me. Apparently they are preparing a surprise for me."

"How charming," Rumple replied with a twinkle in his brown eyes. A very specific kind of twinkle. Regina stopped in her tracks. "…Rumple?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "…Do you know something about this?"

The not-so-green Dark One chuckled, leaning against his cane and shoving one hand in his pocket. "I'll be nice here and say yes. But not telling."

"You know I hate surprises!" Regina snapped, moving over to the kitchen island with a fresh dishcloth. "No matter what they are, I'm just…never prepared. And I hate that."

Rumple shook his head and took a step forward, looking around the kitchen, admiring the soft and elegant features of the room. "Worry not, Regina. Think of this as a sign from the Charmings—a sign that, despite of all what's happened, they do care for you. A petition to start a friendship, if a slow, delicate one should happen."

Regina froze, her hand now hanging in midair. Friendship? That was such an alien word to her. A word she couldn't comprehend.

Fortunately, she was saved by the sound of the doorbell, evading any mocking comments from Rumple at the expense of her vulnerability that she just had displayed. "Excuse me," she snipped brusquely, brushing past him rather rudely as she headed for the front door. _If it's Belle or somebody else I'll just shove an apple turnover in their face._ She ignored Rumple's muffled laughter, which grated on her nerves. _I clearly am an emotional mess today. Pull it together, Regina!_

She opened the door only to see someone she had not been expecting at all.

**Author's Note:**

**What did you think? That's what the review box is for! ;-) I really hope you enjoyed this, and don't be afraid to give me any pointers on my writing or the general plot or whatever! :-)**

**Happy Thanksgiving Month!**


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